I define a "Score Movie" as a movie that
provides the score for the production of its own soundtrack. I don't mean
that the score is a separate item from the movie (although parts of it may
be), I mean that the movie itself IS THE SCORE.

I don't mean that in some vague way the movie
should be responded to as a score - in the sense of something like: 'Oh,
it's an autumn scene so play some autumn music' or 'The couple are arguing
so play some snarling music'.

I mean that the movie is specifically a score &
that its being a score is central to what it is - not an ephemeral aspect
or an after-thought or something considered to be intrinsic to all movies.

The closest example of a predecessor to these Score
Movies of mine that I can think of would be the "Sing-Along with the
Bouncing Ball" movies that inspired the 1st of these Score Movies.
The significant difference, however, between this predecessor & my own
work is that the Sing-Along movies have the sound-track provided & the
Sing-Along score just illustrates what's already there. If the (v)audience
doesn't sing-along the soundtrack is still complete unto itself. In my Score
Movies the movie sound is not complete without the live realization of the
score. There may be other closer example predecessors to my Score Movies
but I don't know what they are & my knowledge of movies & music
is extensive.

Furthermore, no-one else that I've communicated with
has been able to provide me with a concrete exacting example of a predecessor
either. As such, to the best of my knowledge, I am the inventor of
Score Movies - a claim I will hold to until someone proves
the contrary - by "proves" I mean that someone has to give
me specific verifiable information - not make vague unscholarly statements
such as "I'm sure somebody's already done that".

The Score Movies as presented on my "onesownthoughts"
YouTube channel ( https://m.youtube.com/#/user/onesownthoughts
) are versions with the live soundtrack added - in most cases with the (m)usicians
also shown. As such, the versions presented are possible realizations rather
than the movies in their purist Score Movie form. People interested in getting
copies of the actual Score Movie(s) for performance are encouraged to contact
me, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE, at:

idioideo at verizon dot net

Following is a list of my Score Movies in the chronological
order of their making with the descriptions that accompany them on YouTube
& Vimeo + some analysis, etc:

"Sound Along w/ t he Bounding Ball(s)"
is my 31st movie & one of my worst ones. Nonetheless, it has redeeming
qualities. I like that its main subject is a player piano. I
like that it was the 1st film where I used a hole-punch to punch out circles
of film wch were then re-placed.

- the superimposition is a persistance-of-vision video optical
illusion

I like that it's audience participatory. I like some of the superimpositions.
I like that it was my 1st film in English AND French. I like
that it was designed to be both front AND rear screen projected. After
screening it while touring in 1986, I mostly 'retired' the film until almost
21 yrs later in 2007 when I brought it out in honor of being able to play
with visiting veteran improviser LaDonna Smith @ Jefferson Presents in Pittsburgh.
The version presented here combines 2 live soundtracks from my "6
Fingers Crossed Country T.Ore/Tour" in 1986 w/ the 'studio' vocals
I added later PLUS the Smith gig. There are 2 prints of this film:
one in negative in the Enoch Pratt Free Library collection in BalTimOre
& my own print, slightly better edited, in positive. For this
version I intercut a video transfer of the negative version w/ the JP projection
version of the positive one. LaDonna (well.. mostly her hat) can be
glimpsed on the left & Steve & Greg can be briefly glimpsed on the
right when Gordon's camerawork pans to them (& when I adjust the brightness
& contrast & otherwise key them in). The 16mm camerwork on
the original film was done by Steve Estes. - December 24, 2009 notes from
tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

In 1992, Rebecca Barten & I decided to collaborate by making a 16mm
film together. Rebecca & I were both making found footage films at the
time & I was very preoccupied with the music group that Neil Feather
& I had cofounded (with Courtney McCullough as the additional original
member), whose name changed every time we played, that was the "Official"
group for every occasion: hence, for simplicity's sake, The "Official"
Project. I had also recently cofounded a used books, records, etc, store
in BalTimOre called Normal's (which still exists). I shot footage of customers
in Normal's performing the Official cues that were designed to trigger what
we called CAMUs, Cue Activated Modular Units. I had one or two prints of
this footage made & gave one set of cue footage to Rebecca. She then
intercut it with found footage. I used the other set of cue footage to edit
into the "Official John Lennon's Erection Homage & Cheese Sandwich"
16mm movie. Later that year, the Official Project went on tour in a quartet
version (it was a big band at the time) & Rebecca went with us as the
projectionist. When we projected an early unfinished version of the film
silently during our tour we sometimes responded to the cues in the movie
to trigger our playing. In this version of the film, I've edited the soundtrack
to have a tighter connection between the cues & the sounds. I consider
this to be the 2nd of my Score Movies where the visuals give specific instructions
to musicians about how to play the soundtrack. MORE INFORMATION about those
instructions can be found in the booklet that accompanies our Official Wafer
Face Record. - November 17, 2014 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

"Imitative Unison" is in the "Miscellaneous" category
in the MORE INFORMATION booklet. I don't remember which "Official"
member it originated with.

"The cueing player circumscribes a section of the group or addresses
theirself to the whole group & points w/ both thumbs to herself &
then plays/performs. The so-circumscribed (or uncircumscribed) players then
immediately try to imitate & play along as closely as possible the sound(s)/action(s)
that the cuer is playing. It may be passed around w/ the thumbs as w/ the
"Drelso" so that the person being imitated changes."

["Drelso/Hot Potato" is in the "Passing category &
has 3 types. 2 of these ("multiple" & "single" originated
with Neil Feather, the 3rd ("Pitch Specific Drelso w/ Blend")
originated with tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE. I'll just present the "single
Drelso" here to somewhat clarify the above entry:

"A player plays a phrase & points in the direction of another
player. The 2nd player follows suit. The other players stop playing in the
meantime & wait for the Drelso/Hot Potato to be passed to them. This
ends when the player playing passes it outside of the players rather than
to someone else."

In the version presented on YouTube the soundtrack is taken from recordings
of realizations of the CAMUs that didn't directly respond to the film. As
such, this portion of the soundtrack isn't exactly correct insofar as the
players aren't imitating the film, they're imitating whoever cued the CAMU
in the recorded situation.

One interpretation of the film might be that the film itself is
cueing the "Imitative Unison" & that the players should, thus,
imitate the film. As such, the players would then imitate the fighting clowns
that follow the cueing.

02:42 = clowns fighting

03:57 = Pentatonic

The MORE INFORMATION booklet was written before the "Official"
Project's 1992 tour. because of this, the cues developed on that tour &
in any other time after the writing of the booklet probably aren't written
down anywhere that I can remember at the moment. "Pentatonic",
one the CAMUs I would've created, is very simple: play pentatonically -
probably just the black notes on a keyboard & their equivalents on other
instruments.

04:09 = Ordinary Spatial Conducting

"Ordinary Spatial Conducting" is in the "Conducting"
section, subsection "Spatial". It probably originated with
me but may've originated with Neil Feather.

"Using the cue stick or their hands, the conductor indicates who
can play when by pointing to them. Often groups are designated by using
an encircling motion. Subtleties of playing can be indicated by evocative
gesture - ie: the conductor's dancing can become the other player's instructions."

The conductor here just specifies left & right groupings. There're
no "subtleties". The pointing of the cue stick then shows which
of the sides can play when.

04:32 = Hip Shake

"Hip Shake" is in the "Conducting" section, subsection
"Coordinating":

"A player who shakes their hips prior to cueing something indicates
that the players are to continue playing whichever CAMU(s) they're already
in the midst of simultaneously w/ whichever new CAMU is being cued."

Since "Pentatonic" was the last CAMU cued that would mean that
the players should either still be playing "Pentatonic" or might've
segued into "free form".

04:36 = Tremolo

"Tremolo" is another one of my very simple CAMUs. Given that
the "Hip Shake" preceded this & that the "Pentatonic"
preceded that, the players should now probably be applying tremolo to whatever
pentatonic they're doing.

"This is cued by a player's holding their hands in the shape of
a "T" (as in a "Time Out" signal). The players then
play Tremolo - wch for these purposes mean a quick reiteration of each note
played."

04:37 = Ordinary Spatial Conducting (new conductor, faster)

The simplest progression here would be for the players to now be playing
pentatonically with tremolo & only when the conductor points the cue
stick to their side.

05:28 = Bass-Ackwards

This is in the "Disrupting" section. It's most likely one of
my CAMUs.

"The players play their instruments in a way physically contrary
to their usual position. Eg: drummers might play w/ their feet or w/ their
sticks in their mouth, a wind player might hold the instrument up-side-down,
a string player might hold their instrument behind their back, etc.. The
purpose isn't so much to encourage expanded technique as much as it is to
handicap the player."

Since no "Hip Shake" has preceded this, players are now potentially
'freed' from the tremolo pentatonic. Since there's also no longer spatial
conducting happening, they can concentarte exclusively on the "Bass-Ackwards".
However, another possible interpretation is that the tremolo pentatonic
could continue through this (in a handicapped fashion).

06:17 = Ersatz Mancini(ignored - Bass-Ackwards continues)

The significance of the "8" here escapes my memory. My best
guess is that it's meant to cue the "Ersatz Mancini", as in the
composer Henry Mancini because that uses an octatonic scale. The implication
of the film might be that the player cueing would trace an "8"
in the air. However, in typical performance, that would've been cued by
a player playing the "Ersatz Mancini" theme: C, #C, #D, E, #F,
G, A, #A, C (ascending followed by descending) with each note played twice.
The theme is played solo 1st, then in unison, then people improvise on the
scale. The initiating player repeats the theme again, the other players
play it in unison & the CAMU ends.

In the soundtrack to the YouTube presentation of "OUR", the
"Ersatz Mancini" is ignored. That possibility might occur if the
players didn't notice the cue. A strict interpretation would have the "Bass-Akwards"
end while the "Ersatz Mancini" would begin.

06:45 = Hip Shake

Only certain cues would work following a "Hip-Shake" during
the "Ersatz Mancini", such as the "Ordinary Spatial".
Since that doesn't happen next, the "Ersatz Mancini" would be
cut short without a restatement of its theme unless the playing had already
segued into "free-form" which is potentially an option.

06:49 = Ascending/Descending (w/ Steel Gherkin)

Here's the link that'll take you directly to the part referred to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4nZGBPPOyM&t=6m49s
. The "Steel Gherkin" was/is one of Neil Feather's simpler instruments.
The CAMU is probably Neil's. This is under "Conducting", subsection
"Tonal":

"This is cued by a player holding a metal cannister w/ slots cut
in it called the "Steel Gherkin" & then playing a single note
on it. If the Gherkin is held upright then the other players respond by
playing an ascending sequence. If the Gherkin is held down then the players
respond by playing an descending sequence.This CAMU is most often cued a
few times in succession. If the 2 positions of the Gherkin follow each other
the players usually repreat their previous sequence in reverse."

06:50 = up

06:52 = up

06:55 = down

07:07 = pulse for Debacle

This is listed under the "Counting" section. It's one of Neil's.

"A pulse is cued by a player pointing at the player designated to
start the pulse while holding their wrist. After the pulse is started, each
player plays a cycle fro the duration of a specific number of pulses. The
number of pulses determining each player's cycle can be determined by the
player or by a conductor's individualized hand sugnals. The more different
the cycle numbers, the better. the player must play the same cycle repeatedly
until someone cues an increase or decrease in pulses per cycle (either individually
or collectively) or an increase in rests (either individually or collectively)
- at wch point the player(s) can change their cycle either by just appropriately
changing the 1 they've already been playing or by playing a new 1. This
CAMU ends when a player points at the person playing the pulse & makes
a lenghtwise slashing motion as if they're committing suicide - at wch point
the pulse stops."

Since there's no additional cueing other than the initial one, none of
the nuances gone into above should be explored. Since the pointing is to
the left, the left-most player should be the pulse-setter.

07:42 = Hip-Shake

07:47 = Tremolo

The "Hip Shake" enables the addition of tremolo to the "Debcale".

08:20 = slitting wrist to end pulse for Debacle

08:32 = Vibrato

"Vibrato" is another simple one of mine:

"This is cued by a player crossing their arms in an "X"
- ie: forming a "V" w/ the forearms. The players then play Vibrato
- meaning playing w/ a slight ("microntonal") fluctuation in pitch
or, perhaps, dynamic."

In the film, the "V" is more clearly delineated with direct-on-film
marker, as has previously been done with the pulse & wrist-slit cues
for the "Debacle". Since the "Debacle" has just ended,
the playing is "free-form" with vibrato.

08:43 = Rewind/Playback

This is under "Miscellaneous". It's one of John Berndt's CAMUs:

"The cuer moves to the center, attracts the attention of the cued
group, & makes a verey visible motion of cranking a big crank (eventually
a "real" prop crank?) & then "lets it go".
During the cranking back, the other players make failry quiet "backwards
tape noises" w/ their voices, metally counting backwards through their
last playing as much as possible. When the "crank is released",
the players try as much as possible to recreate the sections of playing
wch were "rewound" over - including entire CAMUs - & continue
playing into "the present" unless the "operator" rewinds
them again. Obviously this will be improbable to occur accurately, giving
rise to the usual revisionist history (ie: variations of rewound sections).
Multiple Realities? Parallel Universes?"

Neil & I (d) composed about 6/7ths of the CAMUS in equal parts. I
was the one who usually explained them to the players & conducted the
rehearsals. Neil's & my CAMUs were fairly practical. John's often weren't.
This was one of the impractical ones that may've never been performed in
front of a(n) (v)audience. Here a ratchet sound is added to the miming of
cranking. As I recall, at some point it was agreed that using a ratchet
(cog rattle) as the cueing device was acceptable. In attempting to respond
correctly to this film, one should try to follow John's directions.

09:04 = Mysterious Preparation For An Ill-Timed Encore

"Mysterious Preparation For An Ill-Timed Encore" is one of
John's simpler ones. It's under "Disrupting".

"Cued by a player stopping playing & leaving the space, other
players follow them out of the playing area & disperse into surrounding
areas until they can't see each other (on the street, perhaps), each do
something furtive or enigmatic, & then return to the space to continue
playing."

In the film's case, the door closing = silence. The players resume playing
as soon as the next cue appears.

09:32 = Dispersal

"Dispersal" is another one of mine. It's categorized under
"Counting".

"A player stands in the conductor position (ie: somewhat central
& visible to the other players) & holds their upper arm flush to
their body w/ their forearm pointing at a 90º angle from their body
& w/ their hand in their fist. When this cuer is sure that all the players
have noticed this cue, the cuer starts conducting increasingly dispersed
accents.

"The conducting is as follows: piston/punch-like motion of fist
forward to indicate 1st accent; piston forward: 2nd accent, fist up to shoulder
(ie: foreram against upper arm) to indicate penultimate beat before next
accent; 3rd accent, fist swung to [left] (ie: away from the body if right
hand is used) to indicate the 2nd beat of this sequence, penultimate beat
indication (as before); 4th accent, 2nd beat (as before), fist swing to
left (across abdomen if right hand is used) to indicate the 3rd beat of
this sequence, penultimate beat; 5th accent, 2nd beat, 3rd beat (as before),
4th beat (fist back to the [right]), penultimate beat; etc.. - Each new
beat added per sequence is counted by having the forearm swing back &
forth from left to right as before. The players are "free" to
play however they want to duting the non-accented section(s) but must play
the accent(s) in unison. The conductor ends this CAMU by leaving the conducting
position & ceasing to function as the metronome."

I'm shown conducting. This was all shot using a16mm hand-crank Bolex
with a limited amount of time possible per crank. That means that the conducting
isn't as fluid as it would be in a live situation because of the awkwardness
of the edits.

10:26 = trapese footage

Since the "Dispersal" CAMU has just ended, the players cen
perform "free-form".

11:02 = Wreck

This is another CAMU of mine. It's categorized under "Disrupting".

"Players appear to lose control of their motor functions - sometimes
knocking over their instruments & usually simulating falling to the
ground. A siren often sounds & 1 or more player(s) may get "acrried
away". At least 1 wine bottle & a clock have been broken during
this 1."

Most or all of the above CAMU desriptions were written by me. In the
MORE INFORMATION booklet they're not credited to particular people because
the vibe of the project was very collaborative. Hence my difficulty in sometimes
remembering who did what. Adding to the confusion are things like "Dialectical
Immaterialism" having been named after a phrase of John's but having
actually been co-composed by Neil & myself. Since the actual body of
CAMUs consisted of over 60 elements that were subject to fairly complex
rules that took a substantial amount of practice, this film version is deliberately
highly simplified with much leeway to make realizations easier. Despite
this, it's never been completely performed live.

This movie isn't a Score Movie, per se, but it shows
the "OUR" Score Movie somewhat in use by the "Official"
Project on our 1992 tour. Readers interested in witnessing the "Wreck"
in action in that context should click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN5U7JANpRA&t=9m4s

The "Official" Project was initiated by myself, in conjunction
w/ instrument inventor Neil Feather, in BalTimOre w/ its 1st rehearsal on
April 25, 1990. It was soon joined by Brian Wolle & Courtney McCullough.
Brian, ever difficult, dropped out after the 1st gig (May 5, 1990) &
was replace by Jake True & Laura A. Trueseal. That incarnation lasted
for about 7 mnths & the group was reduced to a duo. That expanded to
a big band in mid 1991. The big band recorded a record for Wafer Face Records
& planned a 1992 tour to launch it. Record production dragged on &
the tour went ahead (w/o the record) from the beginning of August to the
beginning of September, 1992. For practical reasons, the band was reduced
from its peak of 17 to the touring group of 4: myself (tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE),
Neil Feather, Peter Williams, & John Eaton - augmented by Rebecca Barten
as the 16mm projectionist. Despite our all being employed, we had almost
no money. Nonetheless, we managed to rent a U-Haul van wch we modified to
hold our substantial amt of equipment & a bench/couch that we put behind
the 2 front seats that came w/ the van. Our 1st gig was at an art school
in Portland, Maine. Since we changed our name (according to formula) every
time we played, we were "the "Official", August 4th, 1992E.V.,
Band that If You don't Hear Your Vital Organs will Shrivel Up & Disappear".
Owen O'Toole, the publisher of our record-to-be & our Portland host,
gave us ten 7" singles to take w/ us to give away. When we got to the
Canadian border, we were interrogated for 3.5 hrs & were told that we'd
have to pay $350 customs fees for the 10 singles we had & a few other
items that we'd been planning to give away. We told them we'd rather turn
back into the US. They told us we weren't allowed to. Surely that was illegal.
This robbery left me w/ only a few dollars to live off of for the remainder
of the tour. In Montréal, 3 of us appeared on radio stn CKUT as "the
"Official", August 7th, 1992E.V., CKUT, Late Night Atrocity Exhibition
Barkers". That program can be heard & downloaded from the Internet
Archive here: http://archive.org/details/Radio1992 . Later that night we
were joined by 3 more members of the big band: John Berndt, Scott Larson,
& Eric Myers for our gig AT THE BIG ROCK CLUB Foufounes Electriques
where we were "the "Official", August 7th, 1992E.V., Foufounes
Electriques CosmoRobotic $350 Boxers". We moved on from there to Toronto
where we made another (unrecorded) radio appearance (as "the "Official",
August 11th, 1992E.V., Ersatz Ersatz Bahuteklangzeit 2000 ers") &
then presented 2 shows as part of the Zerowork Jubilee at an after hrs club
on a junkyard lot. John Cage having just died, both shows were dedicated
to him: "the "Official", August 12th, 1992E.V., Zerowork
Jubilee John Cage Cover Band Orchestra" & "the "Official",
August 15th, 1992E.V., Morphing Center Orchestra w/ John Cage Interpreters".
For the 2nd of these 2 I created a new piece to be conducted by dancers
(an audience participatory one) & a national CacaNadaian prime time
TV entertainment program came & videoed us. We crossed the border back
into the US, stopping to show the customs people what we had left of our
'$350' box of goodies. Something like $180 of the money stolen by them was
refunded to me 2 yrs later. We went to the tiny town that my friends Miekal
And & Liz Was had had parts of given to them in Wisconsin & performed
in the abandoned high school gym as "the "Official", August
22nd, 1992E.V., Dreamtime Corroboree Comb Salespeople" where our (v)audience
was mainly people from NYC. Next up was Denver, where Neil had lived for
several yrs, to perform at a place that Neil performed at when he lived
there, the Mercury Café. The Mercury had become a dinner theater
in the meantime but we were allowed to play 2 gigs anyway as "the "Official",
August 27th, 1992E.V., Mercury Café Neo-Re-Exciters" and as
"the "Official", August 28th, 1992E.V., Mercury Café
Neil-Re-Exciters". We wended our way to Missouri to become "the
"Official", September 2nd, 1992E.V., Kansas City Artificial Intelligence
'tute Photo Studio Unknown Camera Obscura". Heading back home we stopped
in Ohio to be "the "Official", September 5th, 1992E.V., Union
Bar & Grill (Voted Athens Best Bar Live Music Featuring National Acts)
Bug-Eyed H23 Visitors from Cronolytic Time". Our final gig was to be
in Pittsburgh but was cancelled. Despite the fact that I'd been making vaudoes
for 15 yrs by then I was STILL too poor to afford any camcorder other than
a toy PXL camera. As such, documentation was sketchy & dependent upon
getting footage from our hosts. The "Official Neoast Chair Didaction"
movie featured here can also be witnessed separately elsewhere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYnpi3KF0Gc
. Various audio cassettes + the VHS vaudeo tape that this movie is excerpted
from are available here: http://idioideo.pleintekst.nl/WdmUCatalog.html
. Hard as it will be for some people to understand, I had rehearsed or played
live this material at least 137 times BEFORE STARTING THE TOUR!! After the
tour ended Neil, Courtney, & John Berndt dropped out of the group but
agreed to stay until the release events. We continued along until our actual
record release - wch happened during a blizzard in March of 1993. This project
is quite possibly my favorite of the many sound collaborations I've been
involved in over the yrs. I moved to Berlin in March, 1994 & reformed
a German version of the group. By August of 1994, I was living in CacaNada
where I created synthesizer/sampler/sequencer versions of some of the material
& recorded "Official" solos but never performed them live.
I've put very little documentation of this online b/c I feel that it wd
greatly benefit by the more sophisticated editing equipment that I now have
access to. Alas, I've moved on, of course, & finally decided to at least
put this online knowing that I may never re-edit any of the vast footage
that I have in my archive. - March 15, 2013E.V. notes from tENTATIVELY,
a cONVENIENCE

"The 'Official' John Lennon's
"Erection" As Blocking Our View Homage & Cheese Sandwich"
is my only feature-length 16mm movie. I began it in December 1990 (the same
year that Neil Feather & I began the "Official Project" -
our band that changed its name for every time we played - thusly having
over 100 names). The film went through many incarnations. I have at least
7 of them on video (or, as I prefer, "vaudeo"). The version I
presented here is the final feature-length version that I've recently salvaged
& somewhat digitally improved. Unfortunately, in mid 1993, the warehouse
that I was living in, where much of the film was shot & where I was
editing it, was deluged by a sprinkler accident & the film was dowsed
by water that eventually led to its being deteriorated by Vinegar Syndrome.
The film, in its feature form, was finished in 1995 but has now deteriorated
beyond a projectable state. I couldn't afford a sound print so it was always
screened in the original w/ sound provided in various ways. I think its
1st screening was probably at the Orpheum Theater in BalTimOre on May 9
& 10, 1997. Neil & I provided a live soundtrack for a rear-screened
projection that reversed the left-right orientation. The next screening,
& the only 'correct' one, would've been at the San Francisco Art Institute
under the aegis of the San Francisco Cinematheque on October 18, 1998. The
sound would've come from a simultaneous playing of a VHS transfer of the
16mm. Unfortunately, the VHS player damaged the tape soundtrack so that
was the one & only presentation of it in that form. Finally, on March
13, 2001, the 3 reels were screened simultaneously as a triple side-by-side
projection at the Film Kitchen in the Melwood Screening Room at Pittsburgh
Filmmakers in Pittsburgh. The soundtrack was specially designed for this
occasion. The film was retired after that. This incarnation of it was made
by using the best elements of 3 different 16mm-to-VHS transfers & then
boosting the sound & improving the brightness. Alas, the original film
had much better color & subtlety of lighting than these VHS transfers
could ever show. Those portions of the soundtrack that were generated electronically
were done by myself using a sampler/sequencer, 2 wave-table synthesizers,
& an algorithm synthesizer. Many of the members of the big band incarnation
of the 'Official' Project are presented giving brief solos. The overall
project was one of my 3 most ambitious direct-on-film films - all made around
the same time. The other 2 were "Bob Cobbing" & "Diszey
Spots". - November 24, 2014 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

The evolution of this piece of Low Classical Usic is more than a bit
labyrinthian to go into. From 1997 to 1998 I co-organized a series
of CircumSubstantial Playings in Pennsylvania that involved site & circumstantial
specificity. These were recorded & excerpts from them were published
as side 1 of a tape called "A Year of Sundays" (see 3rd series,
018 here: http://idioideo.pleintekst.nl/WdmUCatalog.html)
& the 2nd side was a more elaborate computer edit using recordings from
the same sessions + 2 more from Baltimore. This computer edit was
then used, w/ the assistance of composer Warren Burt in Australia in 2000,
to drive a Pitch-to-MIDI converter to create a monophonic conventionally
notated score that I called "Reductionism (A Year of Sundays w/ Mono)".
Back in Pittsburgh, I used a different Pitch-to-MIDI converter &
the same "Yr of Sundays (computer edit)" driver to generate
6 new recordings using piano sounds & samples from the original Yr of
Sundays sessions (Reductionisms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (take 1) & 5 (take 2)).
These were then meticulously edited together to create "Interpretive
Duncing" (you can hear this @: http://www.archive.org/details/Piano_Illiterature_Vol_II_of_II
- it's currently (Sept, 2011) in a somewhat incorrect state that I may or
may not eventually replace w/ the correct version). "Reductionism
6" then became the score generated by the 1st MIDI file (slightly revised)
in combination with the (eventually revised) "Interpretive Duncing".
I primitively (& laboriously) animated the score so that the (M)Usicians
cd read it from the same source while listening to the prerecorded "ID"
part. 5 reliable & conventional-notation-savvy collaborators (Ben
Opie: alto sax, Roger Dannenberg: trumpet, Ben Harris: violin, Kenny Haney:
Bb clarinet, Kerrith Livengood: alto flute) then agreed to attempt to play
this monstrosity. When I recorded the 1st rehearsal, technical vagaries
resulted in noisy artifacts that I then took wave-form pictures of which
I then incorporated both the sound & visuals from into the animated
score & then modified the instructions to accommodate them. After
3 rehearsals, the piece was premiered @ Garfield Artworks in Pittsburgh
on July 25, 2011. The venue was hot & poorly ventilated, various
technical problems were frustrating (I forgot the DVD player remote, the
projection quality was poor, one player stepped on something that caused
a loss of the prerecorded sound for a short bit, etc, etc), but the (M)Usicians
persevered. This movie is a quasi-documentary of the 3 rehearsals
& the premier edited in a way that takes liberties w/ any ultimate accuracy
of the way the piece 'should sound'. - September 28, 2011 notes from
tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

"Spectral Evidence" trailer:
In September 2011, my g-friend of the time & I went to Massachusetts
for various vacation-like activities & I shot, as usual, a movie. At
1st, the working title for the movie was "MASS" because I liked
the ambiguity between the state name & the heft of physicality but I
didn't want to explore the ambiguity of "mass" as a religious
ceremony (besides I'd already used masses as soundtracks in another movie).
SO, after I learned about the "Spectral Evidence", ie: the 'evidence'
of dreams & visions, that'd been used in the Salem (& elsewhere)
witch trials of 1692, I decided that that was a much better title. The 1st
edit I made using this footage was with the "Sync'd 4" program
in mind, created by Pittsburgh filmmaker Mike Maraden, that I'd been invited
to be a part of. "Sync'd" is a series in which Pittsburgh moviemakers
are invited to contribute a silent movie to have a soundtrack created for
it & played live by Pittsburgh musicians. "Sync'd 4" was scheduled
to be in the 30th annual Three Rivers Film Festival created by the wonderful
Pittsburgh Filmmakers. The musicians for this event were "Gangwish"
(percussion & electronics from Sam Pace) & "Lungs Face Feet"
(a cumbia inspired band w/ mostly brass & percussion). Liking both of
them I was delighted. Knowing that song structure is what's most familiar
to many musicians I decided to up the ante by making my movie conform to
a much more complicated song structure than usual & to label each part
to make this clear. I figured that regardless of whether the musicians met
the challenge or not the results wd create an interesting counterpoint of
sorts. "Lungs Face Feet" were chosen by Mike to make the soundtrack
for my movie &, even though they felt like they hurried their process
more than they would've liked, I think they did a great job! This is a trailer
because there's now a feature length version of "Spectral Evidence"
culled from much of the same footage (& more) that also has the editing
of its visuals deeply created around its soundtrack. "Spectral Evidence"
is my 100TH FEATURE!! - something that one would imagine would make make
movie scholars sit up & take notice of me. They won't. I'm too lunatic
fringe & my movies are too lo-budget. The members & instrumentation
for this occasion for "Lungs Face Feet" were: Aaron Lindberg:
tuba, Ben Grubb: alto sax, whistling, weather radio, H. Caleb Gamble: trumpet,
Jesse Phillips: drums, percussion, flugelhorn, Mika Metz: baritone horn,
Rick Kolling: accordion, Korg synthesizer. - November 12, 2011 notes from
tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

Ben Opie is my oldest friend in Pittsburgh. His band, Watershed 5tet,
played at the 14 Karat Cabaret in BalTimOre sometime between 1992 &
1994. I was in the audience & loved the music. Then Ben & co went
to the bookstore that I co-owned, Normal's, & we got to know each other
better. When I moved to Pittsburgh in January of 1996, Ben was 1 of the
1st people I started collaborating with. Ben's a fantastic reed player &
an all-around great musician (not to mention an extremely nice guy). In
fact, I think that 2 of the solos I've had the pleasure of hearing/seeing
Ben perform have possibly been the 2 best sax solos I've ever heard ANYONE
play - & I listen to a lot of music. One of these was @ the Space Gallery
& one was a part of the "why are music series" organized by
Johan Nystrom @ Monk's Gallery. When I was asked by Mike Maraden to contribute
a silent movie to November 30, 2012's "Sync'd 5" (in the Strip
District in PGH) & was told that Ben wd be 1 of the musicians providing
a live soundtrack for it, I immediately decided to make a film that wd be
a score for Ben & also a sortof retrospective homage to him. With this
in mind, I cataloged all the footage that I have of him playing music (spanning
15 yrs) & organized it in chronological order. I then took a saxophone
fingering chart & built the movie around matching footage from my Opie
archive w/ each note of the alto sax range (as represented in the chart
- excluding notes off-the-chart). The silent version of the result was projected
at Sync'd 5 with Ben playing live & I shot footage of this that was
then combined w/ the silent version to produce the movie as presented here.
- December 2, 2012 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

"A Catamaran Animist Vigor" is the most recent
of my Score Movies & my current favorite. It may seem excessive to have
so many reelevant movies presented here (including 2 rehearsals) but the
idea is to be thorough & to show everything available online. The most
important of these is the performance of the piece at "Babyland":
https://youtu.be/cn3U055X-2U

This is a teaser for a Score Movie of mine that's much longer. The
movie is the score for its soundtrack. For more information about
the early phases of this piece, see my short documentary: "Mark Dixon's Selectric Piano". If
you're interested in seeing the full score for performance or review's sake,
please contact "tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE at: idioideo at verizon
dot net.

Mark Dixon & Fred Snider made an interface between an IBM Selectric
typewriter & a piano. There's a one-to-one correspondence between the
88 Selectric key positions & the 88 piano keys. Typing a typewriter
key plays a note. Mark's friends Bart Trotman & Jodi Staley typed special
texts that I'd created so that they'd play the Selectric Piano & I videoed
the results w/ 2 camcorders. During the part where Bart's typing, I manipulated
a sampler (w/ samples that I'd made) & a sampler/mixer. Since both the
texts were unusual & formally narrow-focus, both Bart & Jodi found
them very challenging to type. This short edit of a feature-length document
of the process explains this some more & shows a bit of the whole project.
For more on the Selectric Piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gylEJcBzVmk&feature=related
- June 18, 2010E.V. notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

still from beginning of full version of "A Catamaran
Animist Vigor" Score Movie

The genesis of "A Catamaran Animist Vigor" is probably rooted
in the fall of 2009. My friend the ever-inventive Mark Dixon had told me
about his Selectric Piano - a typewriter that would play an 88 key electric
piano. I started thinking about what text(s) I'd want to type on it. The
idea of anagrams of "Anagrammatic Variations" appealed to me.
I used an online generator to generate so many of them that the text file
result was difficult to open. I narrowed it down to just the anagrams with
"Catamaran" & "Catamarans" in them. In 2010. I went
to visit Mark & to use the Selectric Piano. His associate Bart Trotman
was generous & open enough to type the anagrams for me while I manipulated
MIDI-activated electronics. Several movies were made of the results - images
of catamarans were added to the mix. In 2014, I screened this by now dense
movie at Abandoned Store while a group of 5 improvisors played. I shot footage
of this. I went to great lengths to notate what the corresponding pitches
were for each of the anagrams. The original movie + the Abandoned Store
footage + the notation were combined into a Score Movie - a movie that gives
instructions for the live creation of its own soundtrack. I rallied the
musicians for playing this. We rehearsed. Finally, on Saturday, January
24, 2015, we presented the Score Movie to an attentive & excellent (v)audience
at Babyland while the following 5 performed the score: Matt Aelmore (French
horn), Roger Dannenberg (Laptop 'piano'), Kenny Haney (Bb clarinet), Brian
Riordan (Laptop samples), tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE (Percussion samples).
The (M)Usic? Imagine an aleatoric minimalist/maximalist live musique concrete
based on word-play & oh-so-much-more. This YouTube version isn't the
complete piece, it's just the 'meat of the matter'. "A Catamaran Animist
Vigor" was then followed by a performance by Anita Sphinx, a performance
redolent of that same day's Summit Against Racism. The movie from that will
also be posted on onesownthoughts' YouTube channel. Stay tuned. - February
2, 2015 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

"A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time" is a quasi-documentary
of the 1st rehearsal of my "A Catamaran Animist Vigor" Score Movie
in the basement of Abandoned Store on Monday, October 13, 2014. The excellent
& open-minded musicians who've been generous enough to provide their
skills for this were: Matt Aelmore: French Horn, Roger Dannenberg: Laptop
'piano' chords, Kenny Haney: Bb Clarinet, Joey Molinaro: Spray-Paint Cans,
& Brian Riordan: Laptop samples. The movie of the rehearsal has been
broken into 3 parts for YouTube presentation: This, the 1st part, is called:
"A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time: Real"; the 2nd part
is called: "A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time: Jumping Backwards";
& the 3rd part is called: "A Map Between Real Time & _____
Time: Jumping Forwards". "A Catamaran Animist Vigor" is a
formal piece most likely to be appreciated by people in search of unusual
pattern recognition for its own sake & for the sake of the cross-referential
mindset it helps induce. In rehearsal, the projected Score Movie that the
realizers are reading from proceeded somewhat accurately, impeded by some
freezes, until it was over 3/4s done when it skipped backwards dramatically.
This 1st part quasi-documents the rehearsal up to right before this jump.
The title is taken from a joking comment made by Roger Dannenberg at the
end of the rehearsal. For a full appreciation of the practical & philosophical
significance of his comment all 3 parts of this should be witnessed in their
entirety. This is my 110th feature-length movie. According to an email that
I received from the Guinness Book of World Records, as of a year & 1/2
ago, 110 features was the record number made by one director. With this
movie I have presumably tied that record. It seems somehow appropriate,
therefore, that this 110th feature of mine is, therefore, a document of
making the most of technical malfunctions. - October 23, 2014E.V. notes
from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

"A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time" is a quasi-documentary
of the 1st rehearsal of my "A Catamaran Animist Vigor" Score Movie
in the basement of Abandoned Store on Monday, October 13, 2014. The excellent
& open-minded musicians who've been generous enough to provide their
skills for this were: Matt Aelmore: French Horn, Roger Dannenberg: Laptop
'piano' chords, Kenny Haney: Bb Clarinet, Joey Molinaro: Spray-Paint Cans,
& Brian Riordan: Laptop samples. The movie of the rehearsal has been
broken into 3 parts for YouTube presentation: This, the 2nd part, is called:
"A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time: Jumping Backwards"
& the title references the unintentional repetition of the score thanks
to a technical error; the 1st part is called: "A Map Between Real Time
& _____ Time: Real"; & the 3rd part is called: "A Map
Between Real Time & _____ Time: Jumping Forwards". "A Catamaran
Animist Vigor" is a formal piece most likely to be appreciated by people
in search of unusual pattern recognition for its own sake & for the
sake of the cross-referential mindset it helps induce. In rehearsal, the
projected Score Movie that the realizers are reading from proceeded somewhat
accurately, impeded by some freezes, until it was over 3/4s done when it
skipped backwards dramatically. This 2nd part quasi-documents the rehearsal
after this happened without my realizing it. The title is taken from a joking
comment made by Roger Dannenberg at the end of the rehearsal. For a full
appreciation of the practical & philosophical significance of his comment
all 3 parts of this should be witnessed in their entirety. This is my 110th
feature-length movie. According to an email that I received from the Guinness
Book of World Records, as of a year & 1/2 ago, 110 features was the
record number made by one director. With this movie I have presumably tied
that record. It seems somehow appropriate, therefore, that this 110th feature
of mine is, therefore, a document of making the most of technical malfunctions.
- October 23, 2014E.V. notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE 23, 2014E.V.
notes from

"A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time" is a quasi-documentary
of the 1st rehearsal of my "A Catamaran Animist Vigor" Score Movie
in the basement of Abandoned Store on Monday, October 13, 2014. The excellent
& open-minded musicians who've been generous enough to provide their
skills for this were: Matt Aelmore: French Horn, Roger Dannenberg: Laptop
'piano' chords, Kenny Haney: Bb Clarinet, Joey Molinaro: Spray-Paint Cans,
& Brian Riordan: Laptop samples. The movie of the rehearsal has been
broken into 3 parts for YouTube presentation: This, the 3rd part, is called:
"A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time: Jumping Forwards" &
the title references mu insertion of the Score Movie that the rehearsal
never got to because of a technical error with the DVD player + the end
of the rehearsal & a relevant story from John Cage re David Tudor; the
1st part is called: "A Map Between Real Time & _____ Time: Real";
& the 2nd part is called: "A Map Between Real Time & _____
Time: Jumping Backwards". "A Catamaran Animist Vigor" is
a formal piece most likely to be appreciated by people in search of unusual
pattern recognition for its own sake & for the sake of the cross-referential
mindset it helps induce. In rehearsal, the projected Score Movie that the
realizers are reading from proceeded somewhat accurately, impeded by some
freezes, until it was over 3/4s done when it skipped backwards dramatically.
This 3rd part quasi-documents the rehearsal after I finally realized something
was definitely wrong. The title is taken from a joking comment made by Roger
Dannenberg at the end of the rehearsal. For a full appreciation of the practical
& philosophical significance of his comment all 3 parts of this should
be witnessed in their entirety. This is my 110th feature-length movie. According
to an email that I received from the Guinness Book of World Records, as
of a year & 1/2 ago, 110 features was the record number made by one
director. With this movie I have presumably tied that record. It seems somehow
appropriate, therefore, that this 110th feature of mine is, therefore, a
document of making the most of technical malfunctions. - October 23, 2014E.V.
notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

"A Catamaran Animist Vigor" is an anagram of "Anagrammatic
Variations". In 2010, I used Mark Dixon's Selectric Piano to generate
sound from the typing of 195 Anagram Phrases generated by "Anagrammatic
Variations" that included the word "Catamaran". This project
has gone thru various phases that eventually resulted in the "A Catamaran
Animist Vigor" Score Movie that contains a pitch multi-set for every
Anagram Phrase. I'm currently working toward a public performance of this
score. Fortunately, I've found 4 fellow travelers: Brian Riordan: Laptop
samples, Roger Dannenberg: Laptop 'piano' chords, Kenny Haney: Bb Clarinet,
& Matt Aelmore: French Horn. Here's footage from our 2nd rehearsal in
wch I flesh out the minimally desired quintet by playing Percussion samples.
The rehearsal happened at Who Unit? in Pittsburgh on Sunday, November 9,
2014. I tend to think of the (d) composition as Yet-Another Pattern Recognition
Thrill-Ride so if you can relate to that concept this might just be for
you. One cd say that this is 'cubism' in a way that Cubism never really
was. One cd also say that this is a Pointillist Cage Mix performed LIVE
(not really). One cd say that an interesting feature of this is the way
the tempo changes from Anagram Phrase to Anagram Phrase. Maybe it's even
enough outside the box enough to be a unique experience for YOU. Whatever.
I want to be paid to perform this piece w/ these guys SOMEWHERE. There aren't
that many pieces where the (v)audience can witness the score while it's
being performed. Pay us for it, you know you can afford it & it's better
for you than booze. - November 10, 2014 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

"Beau Jest" @ Sync'd 7: "Sync'd" is an annual screening
event in Pittsburgh founded & organized by Michael Maradan. Mike solicits
silent movies from local moviemakers & recruits 2 different groups to
play soundtracks for the movies. Mike 1st asked me to be a participant in
Sync'd 4 in 2011. I didn't want to just make a silent movie without giving
any thought to the circumstances it was to be screened in. Since I'd already
made some "Score Movies" (movies meant to be the score for the
production of its soundtrack) I decided to make another one in that series
as a way of strengthening that body of work & of not just taking the
soundtrack for granted as 'whatever'. SO, I made ""Spectral Evidence"
trailer". Since I knew that my friends in the band "Lungs, Face,
Feet" would be performing the soundtrack for it I tailored it somewhat
for them. Mike invited me back the next year for Sync'd 5 & I made something
even more tailored for the performer: "Ben Opie". For Sync'd 7
I designed "Beau Jest" for performers that I didn't know, "Sun
Cycles". Sun Cycles is a duo & I picked them as my preferred soundtrack
producer because I thought their instrumentation would work well with what
I had in mind. Since I didn't know the performers I made Beau Jest a much
more open form piece, taking air guitar playing as an inspiration, so that
I wouldn't be too demanding. As it turned out, one half of Sun Cycles was
sick & didn't perform so the instrumentation was guitar-centric &
much more minimal than what I had in mind. No matter, Sun Cycles did a pretty
good job anyway &, as the old saying goes, one half of Sun Cycles is
better than nothing. - November 28, 2015 notes from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE